Don't Touch the Glass
by Katherine Excaliber
Summary: A film analysis I did for my Honors Composition class. I really am proud of it. R


1 Do Not Touch the Glass  
  
On February 15, 1991, Orion released an award-winning movie, Silence of the Lambs into theaters. Jonathan Demme, who was previously known for films such as Married to the Mob and Something Wild, directed Silence of the Lambs. Jodie Foster carried what might be considered the main role of the movie as FBI agent Clarice Starling, winning the Best Actress Oscar( for this role. At the time of the movie, an unknown actor known as Anthony Hopkins portrayed the humane yet monstrous Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lector and went on to win the Best Actor Oscar(. Scott Glen portrayed FBI agent Jack Crawford, and playing the role of the psycho killer Jame Gumb, was one Ted Levine.  
  
Silence of the Lambs was based on the 1988 novel written by Thomas Harris. In the novel, a young female FBI agent hunts down a serial killer with the help of a demented psychiatrist. This film can be analyzed from many different cinematic angles. The camera work in the film did much to pull together the intricacies of the book. Demme had the camera do a complete subjective point-of-view shot for Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling) in every sequence. This cinematic point-of-view allowed the audience to feel as if they were going through all of the same occurrences in the movie as the main character went through them, characters of the movie were always talking to the camera. The use of cinematography allowed the audience to closely identify with the main character. There are two types of close-ups used in the film, one were people are looking right at you and another were people are glancing offset. This use of the camera brought the audience into the world of both the heroes and killers.  
  
This was not a fashion movie; the object was not to have it stand out from what time period it came from. This setting allowed film viewers to have a sense of reality, while relating to and enjoying the suspense. Often the characters wore plain "every day" type clothing such as suits and exercise clothing. One costume of particular interest was that of the obese victims. The obese victims costumes were primarily designed from compounds of pasta, jelly, and other foods; this was to provide an authentic look that the victims were skinned. When the skin is pulled back, a layer of fat is shown and in obese women there is much more fat under the skin so the actresses playing the dead women had layers of this food matter adhered to them to make it appear they have that thick layer of fat.  
  
Jodie Foster did an excellent job as playing Clarice Starling, a young woman placed into an unbelievably difficult situation. Foster gave Clarice emotion, but not too much; Clarice was portrayed as a strong yet insecure woman. Foster was able to give the impression that she was about to break down and cry, yet at the same time have this look of absolute determination on her face. This is something that very few actors can pull off and is quite admirable. Anthony Hopkins, playing under the role of Dr. Hannibal Lector, made an unforgettable appearance as his role in Silence of the Lambs. Many people would have expected some raving, babbling lunatic in place of the calm, almost mild-mannered man that Lector was introduced to be. It would only be later that the audience would learn the gruesome side of this individual.  
  
Howard Shore is the composer of the music heard through out the movie. His use mournful type opera music takes the movie away from appearing to horror-like and more dramatic. His musical works for the film are not the only scores of music one might hear from this movie. The lyrical sound effects assist in setting the fearsome mood assisting to keep the audience on edge. This goes from the slight murmur in the background of the heart monitor to the last escaping breath of a murder victim.  
  
In this movie, one is presented with not one, but perhaps two or more villains. Silence of the Lambs begins with an FBI trainee, Clarice Starling (Foster) running out in the FBI training course. She is called in to go on an "interesting errand" for a high-ranking FBI agent. This errand is to talk with the already captured, Dr. Hannibal Lector (Hopkins) who is currently being held at a less-than satisfactory insane asylum. She goes to visit the good doctor and he inquires if she was sent to find information about the latest serial killer, Buffalo Bill (Levine). Here, the audience already is aware of two villains. Lector secretly gives Starling information to help with Bill and now she is caught up in two ground breaking cases, the case of Buffalo Bill and the case of Lector's mind.  
  
Through out the movie, Clarice has many challenges placed before her and she boldly steps up to accept and overcome every challenge. Silence of the Lambs while a bold dramatic piece does not fit a specific genre. It can be considered a psychological thriller as well as an action, drama, and horror movie. Regardless of a viewer's preference, this is an excellently written, produced and acted film that any person could enjoy. 


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